This invention relates to utility stations for use on recreational, charter and other types of boats and watercraft. More particularly, this invention relates to a utility station that can be used as a work, storage and/or entertainment station, and which can include a table or a combination of a table and either a tackle box or a console, which can be affixed with an adjustable mount to a wide variety of boats and watercraft.
Fisherman and other professional or recreational boaters often require quick and ready access to a wide variety of equipment, including fishing tools such as fishing rods, reels, lures, cutting knives, bait, etc. and other items such as first aid materials or refreshments. Usually, due to the rather limited deck space available on many boats, the use of on-board installations for storing or displaying such materials necessarily results in a sacrifice of available workspace or room for comfort, maneuverability and safety. Further, installation of permanent or semi-permanent storage cabinets, utility tables or stations restricts the ability to adapt boats to the myriad of activities often pursued by recreational boaters, i.e., by limiting available space for passengers, deck furniture, ski mounts, etc. It is desirable to provide a utility station that provides a working surface as well as storage facilities, yet does not reduce the available deck space on a boat.
While there are some prior art attempts to provide for utility tables or tackle boxes to be mounted on a fishing boat, none have completely satisfied the above noted concerns. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,575,481 (Phlieger, Jr.) shows a cabinet for storage of fishing items and having a work surface. U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,299 (Smith) shows a bait cutting table that is mounted on a central leg into the deck of a boat. U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,535 (Lacasse et al.) discloses a combination steering console and refreshment center for a pontoon boat. U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,447 (Vicari) provides a tournament style tackle box affixed to the deck of a fishing boat under a seat, worktable or fishing platform. Each of the tables or tackle boxes for boats shown in these prior art patents are mounted either as stand-alone units or as part of another console, and each of these devices takes up too much valuable space on the vehicle.
In addition, once the fishermen or boaters have used their equipment, the equipment must be packed into a portable tackle box for storage and carried away. It is desirable for a fisherman or boater, once he is done fishing, not to have to pack the fishing equipment into a separate tackle box but rather to have a utility station that can simply be carried away by the fisherman with the fishing equipment contained safely within in an organized fashion. Conversely, it is desirable for a fisherman or boater to have a combination of a tackle box and utility station that can be packed with fishing equipment prior to boarding the boat and immediately used on the boat as a station without the fisherman having to unpack the equipment from the tackle box and organize it in a utility station.
The invention disclosed herein addresses these concerns by providing for an integrated multifunctional utility station that is easily mounted to a wide variety of boats, is fully adjustable in height and depth relative to the boat deck in order to serve the needs of the user and to maximize the deck space available on the boat, and is easily removable and portable by the user.